Many times it is not until we are face-to-face with the results of a disaster that we put ourselves into action to help others. I am not from the Santa Rosa area, but have many friends and colleagues who were affected by the recent devastating fires that wiped across the landscape with such blinding speed. Homes, businesses, and families were burnt to the ground and it is heart-wrenching.

With this disaster, as with many that have occurred in such short succession, I have felt helpless in its wake of destruction. I don’t have much, but what I have I want to use to help those in need as much as I can. That is why, until the end of November, I will be hosting a special sale on my site, http://johnnyscotchjustice.com/, which will designate a major portion of proceeds from the sale of every Johnny Scotch comic or book to the North Bay Fire Relief Fund. Here is the breakdown:

Purchases of $5.00 – $15.00 (one to three comics), $2.00 per comic will be donated.
Purchases of $9.00 (a copy of Danger in Bass Clef), $4.00 will be donated.
Purchases of $20.00 (Johnny Scotch package of three comics and Danger in Bass Clef), $10.00 will be donated.

As I mentioned before, I don’t have much, that means that any puchases will have to still include a shipping fee. Sorry.

I realize, this is not the only way for you to donate and I encourage any and all of you to go the the site for the North Bay Fire Relief Fund, or any of the myriad organizations that are working to benefit this and other disasters around the world right now.

Since Facebook will only allow me to host this event for two weeks, I will keep updates flowing through my webpage and also do a big announcement on December 1st as to how much we were able to pull together with this informal drive. Please help by taking part in whatever way you can. Post, share, contribute and share again.

Spent some time today updating my site with some fresh images and with new links. Images to promote Johnny Scotch #3 are there and there will be more to come for sure. I also collected links for some of the reviews and interviews for Johnny Scotch over the past couple of years. Great links from my friends at Hold 322, The Art of Business, scifimonkeys.com, and Written Sins.

I hope you will take some time to take a tour of the site and see what is going on in the Johnny Scotch universe.

This was launched with not nearly enough pomp and circumstance let alone shouting into the void to at least keep our fans appraised that yes, Johnny Scotch #3 is printed, available and ready for your consumption.

“The life of a jazz musician is hard enough, but add in the antics of Lila and her goons tossing you into a trunk without warning and things get ultimately more complicated. Johnny not only has to think about missing his next set, but he has to confront a past that has come up to bite him.”

Our usual retail partners are already picking up the third issue so be on the look out for Johnny Scotch issues 1, 2, and 3 in your area. If you have a store that you want our books in, drop me a message and I will see what I can do to get these great comics into your area.

It has been four years since my hard hitting, hard drinking alter ego was conceived. What a wild ride it has been so far. Since my start I have written and published two comic books, a short story and my first novella in the Johnny Scotch universe. Next week we are launching our third comic book in the series and I am so excited to share this beautiful book with everyone. Dan Schaefer, as always, has truly delivered the noir flavored goods with his artwork.

This morning I would like to share the covers from our previous books to go through the evolution of Johnny Scotch a bit. Let’s start with Dan and my first experiment, Finding Ella.

This cover had everything. We get our first look at our hero and the world he runs around in. We also get glimpses of some of the future characters that will soon play a big part in Johnny’s world. This was an exciting time for me because it was my first experience having my words translated into a visual medium. Dan and I just clicked and he really understood the pulpy jazz-noir character I was trying to get out onto the page.

Next up is the first fully illustrated comic we did.

Talk about smooth. This cover, which highlights Lila, tells you right away that this is going to be a thrill ride filled with plenty of dangerous curves. It was during the production of Lila that we decided to expand Lila’s role and push forward with an expanded story arc for her.

That led to Comic number 2, “A Song to Remember Charlie”.

Things start to heat up for Johnny in this book and it went from being a tough guy story to a full on murder mystery with hints to Johnny’s recent past fumbles. The cover art also took a bit of a different turn with a real retro flavor with Dan’s water colors.

The interior art has always stayed consistent and beautiful. Dan’s blending of my words with his film noir aesthetic have helped make these books so fun to tear into. There is a visceral flow to each page that makes you want to keep turning them even when you have flipped the back cover closed.

Next up was the launch of my first Johnny Scotch novella, “Danger in Bass Clef”.

When Dan and I talked about what I wanted for this, we settled on the dime store pulp novel feel. We get a cross between a spaghetti western and a seventies movie poster. In other words, pitch perfect.

In my next post I will reveal the much anticipated cover for our upcoming comic book. Please check back soon to see where this has brought us to date.